BharatPe Co-Founder Ashneer Grover on Voluntary Leave Till March-End

The statement also stated that the firm will "continue to be ably led by our CEO Suhail Sameer and team".

Co-founder and managing director of Fintech firm BharatPe, Ashneer Grover, has taken a voluntary leave till March-end, a statement issued by the company indicated on Wednesday, 19 January.

(Photo: IANS/Altered by The Quint)

Co-founder and managing director of Fintech firm BharatPe, Ashneer Grover, has taken a voluntary leave till March-end, a statement issued by the company indicated on Wednesday, 19 January.

According to the notice, the firm was informed of Grover's decision earlier in the day.

It read:

"For now, the Board has accepted Ashneer’s decision, which we agree is in the best interests of the company, our employees and investors, and the millions of merchants we support each day."

BharatPe

The statement went on to state that the firm will "continue to be ably led by our CEO Suhail Sameer and our strong management team".

The news comes amidst the controversy over his alleged use of "inappropriate language" in a correspondence with employees of the Kotak Group.

Last week, Grover and his wife Madhuri Grover sent a legal notice to Kotak Mahindra Bank's MD and chief executive officer (CEO) Uday Kotak and his senior management, accusing the bank of failing to secure financing and allocation of shares in an IPO launched by beauty firm Nykaa, IANS reported.

Responding to the allegations, the bank had responded, "This notice was received by us and was replied to appropriately at the time, including placing on record our objections to inappropriate language used by Mr Grover."

The bank further said that "appropriate legal action is being pursued" in the regard.

(With inputs from IANS.)